Hopper-door-operating mechanism



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F. S. GALLAGHER HOPPER DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FiledNOV. 6,

Nov. 27 1923.

F. s. GALLAGHER- HOPPER DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Nov/27 1923. 1,475,572

Filed Nov. 6, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Zwemor Patented Nov. 27, 1923.

. UilTj ED rnnnnnrcx s. GALLAGHER, or YONKERS, NEw YosK.

.HOIPEB-DOOB-OPERATING M Q A .I

Application filed November 6, 1,922. Seria1 No. .599 ,365.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known tl1ratI, FREDEBIGK S. GALLA- GHER, residing at'Yonkers,county of West- Chester, State of New York, and being a citizen of theUnited States, have invented certain new and .useful Improvements inHoppsr Door Operating Mechanism, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact descriptionfsuch as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertainsto' make and to use the same, reference beinghad tothe accompanying drawings, which illustrate the preferred'formoffthe invention, though it is to be understood that the inventionisnot-limited to the exact details of. constructionQ shown and described,as it is obvious; that various modifications there of within the scopeof the claims will occur to persons skilled in the art.

This invention relates to railwayfreight cars' of the hopper type usedfor hauling coal, ore and thelike which have doors-so constructed thatthe entireload or. themajor portion thereof is discharged from the carwhen the. doors are open, which doors jniust be moved ,to closedposition before the carfis moved tov prevent-the door from beingdamaged.

l The doors usuallyform a part, of the wall or floor or other containinpart of the car. and as such cars are .requently .loaded from tipples tothe height of jthe ,door its supporting mechanism must be very strong towithstand not only the imell) pact, but the load "falling from] the Itipple and also the impact due to the inoyement of the can in transit.

would result in the load being discharged on the rail therebyjderailingand wreck- ...ing the train as well as caus ngt 5 of the lading.

" One of the objects of this invention is to obtain a fdoonmechanismwhich is positive {on account ofits lock to the locked feature.

Door locking mechanisms generally in use are so arranged that ju'st asthe door reaches its closed position,the'three pivot points of themechanism are just a little beyond the center so that the tension on themechanism due to the load tends to lock,

the door instead of unlocking it. This is known as the eccentric lockand will be hereinafter described.

When the door is open the first fraction of a revolution of theoperating shaft throws the fulcrum pointbeyond the Center which resultsin the door being rapidly forced open with a sudden revolutionarymovement of the shaft and its operating wheel or wrench which, innumerous cases, has resulted ln-knocking the operatordown orotherwiseinjuring him. a. This is particularly dangerous when the car is beingunloaded jon' a trestle in construction wo 'k or on an unloading dock atthe seaboard.

Another'obje'ct of the invention is to obtain a safe ineans of unlockingthedoor mechanism to prevent the'injury to the operator described above.l

As the operating shaft on such cars is usually as long- I as the'widthof the" car or about five feet it is necessary to support it on aleastithree pointswhich frequently results in the shaftbinding owing tothe bearings getting out of alignment due to the sagging or distortionof the car body.

Another v object of this invention is to divide the operating shaft intotwoparts and connecting the two by a'fleXible joint to obviate, thistroublesome feature.

Inthe drawings! Fig. 1 hows a fragmentary plan view of a hopper-carwith}the invention applied thereon,

tion of a hopper carwith the invention applied thereon, having thedoorclosed.

Fig. '3 showsa fragmentary side elevation of ahopper car'with theinvention applied thereon, having'the door open.

.Furthermore, the door supporting or il c i g cha i m must. be ab$s uely1PQ ,tivebecause the failure, of these [parts Fig. 4 isa fragmentarysection of a hopper car.

Fig; 2 shows afragmentary side elevav Figs. 6,7, 8, 9 and 10 show thevarious positions assumed/by the operating and winding shaft in closingand opening the door; 5 i i Numeral 1 is" the side wall of a hopper car,.2 the floor sheet, 3 the center hopper 'sheet' andd theside hoppersheet respec- "Qtively'ofthe car. Numeral 5' is the door .hinged totheifloor sheet '2by hinge 6; lThe lower part of the door'5 is-providediwith eye bolt 7 connected to arm 8 at point 12 which in turn is pivotedtoeccentric arm 9 at point 13 which is rigidly securedto operating shaft10 by set screw 11, which shaft 10 is supported by journals 21 and 22 atany convenient place on the car. Eye bolt 7 is threaded at one end andprovided with nuts 14 for adjustment. Operating shaft 10 is operativelyflexibly connected to winding shaft 15 which is journaled to anyconvenient part of the car, as shown at 16. This operating shaft isprovided with ratchet l7 and pawl 18 and manual winding wheel indicatedin dot and dash lines as 19 or may be provided with a square. portion 20for engagement with the operating wrench.

Generally operating shaft 10 and winding shaft 15 are made in .one pieceso that a rotation of this shaft through eccentric arms 9 and arms 8 andeyebolt 7 actuate to close the door and at the end of such movement astraight line drawn from connection 12 to connection 13 falls below thecenter of the winding shaft, as shown in dot and dash lines on Fig. 2.Thus the thrust due to the door and the load thereon has a tendency tohold the door closed instead of opening it. This feature I do not claimas new with me. To open the door operating shaft 10-15 is rotated in theopposite direction until the line drawn between connections 12 and 13rises above the operating shaft at 23 at which time the door flies opendue to its own weight and the weight of the load thereon. This constantacceleration of the rotary motion of the shaft which is' transmitted tothe winding wheel 19 causes a sudden and rapid movement of this wheel 19or the operating wrench causing the operator to lose his grip or beknocked to the ground or be injured by the operating wrench flyingaround and striking him and if he happens to be operating the car on atrestle or dock he is in a precarious position.

It will readily be seen shafts 10 and 15 are in one piece and journals21, 22 and 16 should become out of alignment owing to the distortion ofthe car thatthis one shaft would bind which would result in themechanism becoming inoperative.

My improvement relates to having the operating shaft made independent ofthe winding shaft and mounted on the car independent thereof. Thewinding shaft 15 V is supported on the car body at its outer end andflexibly connected to the operating shaft at its inner end so that theprobabilities of these shafts binding due to the dis- 7 tortion of thecar are practically eliminated.

The end of the winding shaft 10 is provided with alateral extendingportion 24 that if the two ing portion of the winding shaft when thedoor is in closed and locked position. In this position a line drawnfrom points 12 to 13 in Fig. 2 fall below point 23 which is the centerof the operating shaft. To open the door the operating shaft is rotated,as shown by the arrow in Fig. 7 until it comesv in contact with thelower part of the lateral extension, as shown in Fig. 7. A continuationof this rotative movement moves the lateral extension until it assumesposition shown in Fig. 8, whereupon the line drawn between points 12 and1 3 in Fig. 2 rises above point 23 in Fig. 2 so that the door swingsopen by gravity until the lateral extension of the windingshaft and theoperating shaft assume position shown in Fig. 9. When it is desired toclose the door the operating shaft is rotated, as indicated by the arrowin Fig. 10, until it comes in contact with the lower portion of thelateral extension and this rotative movement is continued until the dooris closed andlocked and the operating shaft andthe lateral extension ofthe winding shaft assume position shown in Fig. 6.

While the drawings show the winding shaft mounted on the operating shaftat its inner end it is understood that it is still within the scope ofthis invention to mount the outer end of the operating shaft onthe'inner end of the winding shaft.

2. In an operating means for hopper car doors comprlsing a winding shafthaving a lateral extension at one end, and an operating shafthaving alateral extension at one end, said winding shaft provided with anaperture for journaling it upon said operating shaft.

FREDERICK S. GALLAGHER.

